If some of your co-workers seem distracted today - well, it's not any old Monday - huh, Steve?

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

I'm sorry, Renee. We're you saying something? I was busy filling out an NCAA Tournament bracket here. Our last word in business, as a matter of fact, is about that. It's lost productivity.

MONTAGNE: Every year the outplacement firm studies how much the NCAA basketball tournament could cost employers. The firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas predicts about three million Americans. You're one of them, Steve, I guess, will spend one to three hours at work watching games.

INSKEEP: That's more than $134 million in lost wages just this Thursday and Friday. It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.